Human Brain Evolution The Influence of Freshwater and Marine Food Resources

by Cunnane, Stephen; Stewart, Kathlyn

• ISBN13: 9780470452684
• ISBN10: 0470452684
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

The evolution of the human brain and cognitive ability is one of the central themes of physical/biological anthropology. This book discusses the emergence of human cognition at a conceptual level, describing it as a process of long adaptive stasis interrupted by short periods of cognitive advance. These advances were not linear and directed, but were acquired indirectly as part of changing human behaviors, in other words through the process of exaptation (acquisition of a function for which it was not originally selected). Based on studies of the modem human brain, certain prerequisites were needed for the development of the early brain and associated cognitive advances. This book documents the energy and nutrient constraints of the modern brain, highlighting the significant role of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in brain development and maintenance. Crawford provides further emphasis for the role of essential fatty acids, in particular DHA, in brain development, by discussing the evolution of the eye and neural systems.This is an ideal book for Graduate students, post docs, research scientists in Physical/Biological Anthropology, Human Biology, Archaeology, Nutrition, Cognitive Science, Neurosciences. It is also an excellent selection for a grad student discussion seminar.

Author Biography

Stephen C. Cunnane, Ph.D., holds the Canada Research Chair in Brain Metabolism and Aging and is the Director of the Research Centre on Aging at Sherbrooke University Geriatric Institute. He sits on the editorial boards of iiuinerous journals, including Nutrition, British Journal of Nutrition and Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.

Kathlyn M. Stewart, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist in Paleobiology and former Head of Paleobiology at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Specializing in environmental change and human adaptation, she has extensive field experience in Africa.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Evolution, Encephalization, Environment	p. vii
Introduction	p. xiii
Contributors	p. xix
Macroevolutionary Patterns, Exaptation, and Emergence in the Evolution of the Human Brain and Cognition	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Natural Selection	p. 1
Macroevolution	p. 2
Patterns in Human Evolution	p. 3
Symbolic Cognition	p. 5
Exaptation and Emergence	p. 8
Large Brains and Aquatic Resources	p. 9
References	p. 10
Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Human Brain Evolution	p. 13
Introduction - Lipids and Evolution	p. 13
The Evolution of Complex Life Forms	p. 14
The Language of Lipids	p. 15
DHA	p. 17
Evolution of Homo sapiens	p. 20
DHA and Neural Pathways?	p. 22
A Comment on AA	p. 24
The Third Phase of Earth's Life History - AA and Reproduction in Mammals	p. 25
Darwin and the Conditions of Existence	p. 26
Implications	p. 27
Conclusion	p. 28
Acknowledgments	p. 28
Notes	p. 28
References	p. 28
Human Brain Evolution: A Question Of Solving Key Nutritional And Metabolic Constraints On Mammalian Brain Development	p. 33
Introduction	p. 33
Brain Evolution in Hominins	p. 35
Need for A New Paradigm	p. 38
Brain Development	p. 40
Energy Requirements of the Brain	p. 41
Nutrients and Brain Function	p. 44
Brain-Selective Nutrients	p. 46
Critical Importance of Baby Fat in Humans	p. 52
Gene - Nutrient Interactions	p. 57
Conclusions	p. 59
Acknowledgments	p. 61
References	p. 61
Metabolic and Molecular Aspects of the Critical Role of Docosahexaenoic Acid in Human Brain Function	p. 65
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Molecular Structure	p. 65
DHA and Neural Function	p. 66
Metabolic and Biophysical Considerations	p. 68
Functional Importance of DHA in Retinal and Neural Membranes	p. 70
Dietary Need for Preformed DHA	p. 71
DHA Intake During Pregnancy and Lactation: Effects on Higher CNS Functions of the Mother and Infant	p. 73
Summary	p. 74
References	p. 74
Lessons from Shore-Based Hunter-Gatherer Diets in East Africa	p. 77
Introduction	p. 77
Our Genetic Background	p. 78
Adaptation to the Conditions of Existence	p. 79
Western Diets and the Human Genome	p. 81
Brain-Selective Nutrients in Health and Disease	p. 83
Dietary Fatty Acids at the Land-Water Interface	p. 84
Tanzanian Breast Milk Fatty Acids Versus Western Recommendations	p. 89
Estimated Fatty Acid Intakes from Shore-Based Paleolithic Diets	p. 93
Conclusions	p. 96
Notes	p. 97
References	p. 97
Appendix	p. 103
Thyroid Hormone, Iodine and Human Brain Evolution	p. 105
Introduction	p. 105
Thyroid Hormone Metabolism and Function	p. 105
Fetal Development	p. 108
Antioxidant Activity of Iodine	p. 108
Dietary Sources of Iodine	p. 110
Iodine Deficiency Disorders	p. 111
Human Brain Evolution	p. 113
Thyroid Hormone, Iodine, and Human Brain Evolution	p. 117
Conclusion	p. 118
References	p. 119
Food For Thought: The Role of Coastlines and Aquatic Resources in Human Evolution	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Food for Thought	p. 126
Human Nutrition and Physiology	p. 127
Archaeological Evidence for the Antiquity of Fishing	p. 128
Conclusions	p. 132
Acknowledgments	p. 133
Notes	p. 133
References	p. 133
The Case for Exploitation of Wetlands Environments and Foods by Pre-sapiens Hominins	p. 137
Introduction	p. 137
Hominid Exploitation of Wetlands Environments and Resources	p. 139
Early Hominins: Colonization of New Environments	p. 144
Plio-Pleistocene Climate Instability and Use of Wetlands Resources	p. 147
Intensification of Wetlands Vegetation Exploitation	p. 149
The Shift to High-Quality Foods	p. 151
Preconditions for Encephalization	p. 155
Precessional Forcing, Drying Lakes/Rivers, and Die-Offs of Aquatic Faunas	p. 157
Mammal Meat: A Later Hominin Adaptation?	p. 158
Postscript	p. 160
Summary	p. 161
Acknowledgments	p. 162
References	p. 162
Brain Size in Carnivoran Mammals That Forage at The Land-Water Ecotone, With Implications For Robust Australopithecine Paleobiology	p. 173
Introduction	p. 173
Methods	p. 177
Results	p. 177
Discussion	p. 183
Acknowledgments	p. 186
References	p. 186
Coastal Diet, Encephalization, and Innovative Behaviors in the Late Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa	p. 189
Introduction	p. 189
Changes	p. 190
Climate Change	p. 196
A New Narrative	p. 198
References	p. 200
Human Brain Evolution: A New Wetlands Scenario	p. 203
Human Brain Evolution	p. 203
Neurochemical and Nutritional Evidence	p. 203
The Fossil Evidence	p. 204
Plausibility, Prediction, and Parsimony	p. 205
Salient Points	p. 206
Conclusion	p. 207
Reference	p. 207
Index	p. 209
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